Candles
by WindowChild
Summary: Annabeth's eighteenth birthday party walks her through her past and her future, setting some desires straight in her mind. By the time every candle is out, she knows what she wants more than anything, is to tell Percy she loves him. Percabeth.


A/N: Named after the Hey Monday song, and you know, the object : P. I hope you like it!

Bright.

It was the first thought that entered Annabeth's mind, blinding her eyes and striking her mind with its intensity. Percy had somehow transformed the muddy hoop around the lake into a giant wad of light.

"What… what is this?" she asked, even though she could guess from the plastic signage.

"Happy birthday Annabeth!" Percy cheered. There was something of an explosion, this one vocal, and she turned to notice their enthusiastic mob of friends.

"Happy birthday!" they chorused, waving party poppers and frantic hands all at once. She waved back, feeling nearly as if the wind had been knocked out of her. She felt stunned. Crowds had never scared her, but this one was overwhelming. She couldn't help but feel magnified, at the way her extended family watched her every move.

Wordlessly, Percy guided her over to the cloth-covered table. The touch of his warm hand on her blue shirt helped her to relax, and she allowed her slight discomfort to fade into the petal-lined earth. Petal-lined. She breathed with grateful bliss, realizing just how much Percy – or Juniper, she suspected – had done for this.

"Make a wish," Percy whispered. It was just his eyes meeting hers now; the rest of the camp had dimmed down to silence. She felt hypnotized by his green eyes, wondering if there was something deeper there, that she still had yet to uncover. He could be so thoughtful sometimes, like with this party, that it made her wonder. She stood perfectly still, thinking she might give him a kiss. Maybe, at this moment, all of the thoughts she couldn't quite put into words could be communicated to him. Her lips pursed, ready to push her forward, and the Stoll brothers ruined it by popping a balloon.

Connor went a rather unattractive shade of burgundy. "Uh, make a wish?" he said, grinning hopefully.

She rolled her eyes, stepping away from Percy and towards the magnificent cake. It wasn't the right time, anyway. That special moment that she wanted, it should happen in private. After all, who says 'I love you' for the first time, in front of all of their friends?

Obeying their cheered instructions, she knelt down to eyelevel with the vanilla cake. She could smell the sweetness from there, and could see the flame of every striped candle. Eighteen. Eighteen candles, because that's how old she was turning. Eighteen. The year before they left for college. Before they started in the real world, instead of staying in their fleece-protected bubble of childhood. There was nostalgia to be felt, and sadness, but also more excitement than she could handle. Her toes tingled at the thought, and her eyes snapped shut to make her wish.

A second passed, as she prepared to blow, but then she realized that she didn't know what to wish for. There were so many things, shallow and important, that she wanted. How could she choose? A secret smile reached her lips, as she remembered something her father had once said. There was a reason Athena had chosen him, after all. He was clever, with his sayings and his loopholes. There was a strange whimsy to his way of thinking, which Annabeth had almost never understood. But as she stood here, watching the flames dance before her, she decided to understand for just this once.

_She'd been five, drinking a milkshake to celebrate the special occasion. Frederick had felt bad about that, but he'd forgotten the date and had lapsed at getting her any cake at all. _

_"You know," he said, trying very hard to make up for his mistake, "One time in everybody's life, they get to make a wish on every candle."_

_"Huh?" Annabeth answered, eyes wide. She didn't understand._

_"On a cake," he explained, "Most birthday's you only get to make one wish. But on one special birthday, you can pick which one, you get to make a wish on every candle."_

_"Wow," Annabeth said, leaning her chin against her milkshake's straw. "What if you're a hundred?"_

_"Then you make a hundred wishes," Frederick said. He smiled, his eyes glittering with excitement. That was the one fun thing about having a child, he thought. You got to see their amazement at everything._

_"And they all come true?" Annabeth pressed._

_"Well, I don't know about that," Frederick replied, "But with a hundred wishes, you've got a pretty good shot at getting one of them to come true." The two had smiled at each other, a true father and daughter pair. He'd taken her hand then. "Why don't we pay for the milkshake, and then go and get you a present from Barnes and Noble?" _

_Annabeth clapped her free hand against the one her father was holding. "Yay!" _

The comment about the candles had never left her mind completely, although she had grown to doubt it as she grew older. After all, no one else did that, did they? She wasn't sure. But standing here, with the perfect cake and her perfect friends and her perfectly imperfect boyfriend, she could see her future sprawling for miles. There was no way to only wish for one thing. So she took a deep breath, picturing her desires one by one.

On the first candle, she wished to see Thalia again. It was a far-fetched wish, and she knew it, but she wished for it anyway. There was no harm in hoping.

With the second candle – the one in the center – came the thought of college. After all, it was soon to be the center of her life. She smiled, wishing for a smooth ride. Good grades, helpful opportunities. That's what she wanted.

For the third, she wished for new friends. Friends who weren't her distant cousins, maybe. Friends from her architecture classes, with similar interests to hers. That would be nice, for once.

Glancing up at the gang around her, showering her in their loving smiles and their patient anticipation, she also wished to keep her old friends. No matter how far away she went, she never wanted to lose touch with Grover and Nico, or even the Stoll brothers. Then, thinking about the gods above them, she doubted it was possible.

With a swallow, her desires traveled to Luke. Picturing the way his blonde her fell across his eyes, his blue irises wide with thought, she knew she wanted good things for him. Whatever their pasts may have been, she knew she wanted him to be reincarnated like he had hoped to be. For once, the neglected traitor of the gods deserved to get what he really wanted.

She felt shallow wanting it, but her seventh wish was a cell phone. It was unsafe, maybe, but the monsters were much tamer than they used to be. It probably wouldn't be too dangerous. Besides, a cell phone would be something of a right of passage. It would mark her entrance to the mortal world.

Monsters… Smiling and almost laughing aloud, she wished for the next prophecy not to hit them yet. She was too happy, with her current life. Why did it have to be spoiled with more quests and battles?

Her eighth wish, and she already worried she was running out. Wasn't that good, then? She was so happy, that she didn't need to wish for much? Wasn't that a good thing? Still, now that she had started, she felt it was only proper to finish it. Staring into the distance, she wished for a better relationship with her father. They'd gotten better lately anyway, and his story about the candles made her remember how much she missed those moments. They'd been rare, even when she was small, but she could pin down each one with expertise. She'd liked it, when he'd shared his quirky wisdom with her. It had made her feel like the smartest girl in the world.

Since it seemed only fair to wish the same for her mother, she did so. She wanted to be closer to Athena. Sure, she was a goddess, but that didn't mean Annabeth couldn't wish it. That's what wishes were, anyway. Impossible things that you wanted anyway.

She sighed, feeling almost dizzy. What else was left to want? Success? Alright, success then. In life, in her job. With Percy. With their family? Someday? She hoped so.

The eleventh candle. Because she was out of ideas, and because she felt it went along with her earlier wishes, she wished to be closer with her siblings. All of them. The ones on her mom's side, and on her father's. It would do her some good, she thought, to have more people she could rely on.

Twelfth candle. Well, she knew what that meant. The twelve Olympians. Silently, she offered her thanks and her blessings, knowing she would do an official sacrifice later.

_But what else? _Her mind was racing, as if she was pressed for time. There was something she was forgetting, or maybe it was something she didn't want to remember at all. Something she didn't want to put into words, even in her mind, for fear that it would cheapen it. Still, looking up at the waiting faces around her, she thought of something else she wanted.

She wanted to never forget. To have this moment, and so many others, kept forever in her clutches. It seemed like a silly wish, but she'd seen people forget things before. This moment by the candles, with Percy next to her, this was something she never wanted to lose.

And because it seemed to go with that, she wished to always be able to return. To camp, that is. She wanted to always come back to the Athena cabin, to find it waiting for her. She smiled. Yes, definitely. That was something she deeply desired.

Only five left… There seemed to be four obvious ones. Should she just wish for them? Should she just think the words, rather than analyzing like she always did? Alright. She would do it.

Fourteen. And she wished for Percy to always love her. No matter what, she wanted him by her side.

Fifteen. She wished for the reverse. She wanted to love Percy, and never to lose how much she cared for him.

Sixteen. This one made her sad in a way, and in a way it was the one she wanted most of all. She wanted things to stay the same. No matter whether they got married, or had children or anything, she wanted them to still be them. The bickering, the disagreements. She never wanted to stop being smarter than him, or to have him stop being the Seaweed Brain that she loved so much. Her fists clenched, her insides fighting for this one to come true.

Seventeen. She wanted to get married, and to have children. Not yet, maybe not for years, but eventually, that's what she wanted to do. They hadn't talked about it, not yet, but she hoped as hard as she could that Percy wanted it to.

Eighteen. It seemed almost a silly one to save for last, but she was glad that it would be the one with her when she blew out her candles. It was the one she needed in the moment. She wished, with a smile and a wink to the orange swirls, to have the courage to tell him. She did consider herself brave in a way, but saying 'I love you' was a bravery that carried so much else. It was surrendering, and saying that she wanted him in her life forever. It was saying that she'd be broken, if he ever left her behind. But it was what she wanted, and so she closed her eyes, ready to blow the –

"Uh, Annabeth?" Her head snapped to the side, finding Percy's expectant expression. "Annabeth, um, I don't mean to rush you, but the wax is starting to get on the cake."

She opened her mouth, surprised. Sure enough, the candles had melted down to mere stubs. The vanilla icing was covered in the candle remains, little white and red pools decorating the cake's top in polka dots.

"Sorry," she murmured, speaking to the party at large. "I was almost done." With a renewed grin, and a blush of apology, she felt the wind rush from her lips. The effect was instantaneous as the candles' flames went out all at once. That was supposed to be good luck, wasn't it?

"What did you wish for?" Percy asked. The cake was handed off to Chiron, to be cut into pieces, and Percy pulled her into his arms.

She breathed in his scent. It was salty from the sea, sweet from his shampoo, and altogether warm and inviting. Sometimes, she wished she could stay in his embrace forever.

"I can't tell you," she said, smiles playing on both their lips. "Otherwise they won't come true. But Percy?"

"Mmm?" he said, swaying them from side to side as if they were dancing.

"Thank you for this. All of it. It's an amazing last memory to come from camp."

He grinned. "Hey, no last memory talk. We have plenty of time left."

"Yeah…" she echoed, but she knew he was lying. Trying to make her feel better, like he always did. "And Percy?"

"Mmm?" he repeated.

She leaned forward, feeling her lungs burned by the icy feeling of fear. She grazed the tips of her lips against his ear, kissing it gently as she whispered. This was it then. Her first wish come true. "Percy, I love you."

A/N: It had been a while since I did a Percabeth fic, so I figured I might as well. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!


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